Ollie Pope Strengthens Position to England Cricket's No 3 Spot with Impressive 90 Against Lions

It is difficult to gauge how significant of England's practice game will end up being meaningful when their Ashes battle kicks off a short distance away at Perth Stadium on Friday – no distance in geography or duration but worlds away in import and environment – but if it accomplished only boosting Ollie Pope's confidence, that alone has made the endeavor valuable.

The English side's No 3 – that much is certainly absolutely clear – followed his first-innings hundred by notching an additional 90 in the second innings, and what was remarkable was not so much the total of runs but the style in which they were made. Periodically the 27-year-old seemed dominant, hitting a dozen fours and a couple of maximums, hitting the ball perfectly but with aggressive intent.

It was just a friendly versus a Lions squad that used exactly 11 pitchers during a contest played in front of a small group of spectators in a public park, but it was nevertheless very praiseworthy. To note, England, set a target of 202 after the Lions closed their follow-on innings on 251 for six, triumphed by five wickets in hand once Jamie Smith sped the team across the winning target with a flurry of boundaries.

Zak Crawley and Duckett, the remaining significant first-innings performers, both were dismissed in the follow-up, while Root added additional runs – 31 on this time – but was not significantly more assured, before being bemused and accordingly bowled by Jacks. Brook met an same fate shortly after.

Bashir – who finished the fixture having bowled 12 overs for either team – will have faced a portion of the strokes he faced quite hostile. His initial six deliveries against the Lions cost 56, with McKinney tucking in to pitching that if not exactly poor was certainly not very threatening.

By the conclusion the sixth of those deliveries, the English side's remaining three bowlers had given away almost precisely the equivalent number of runs – 57 – from 15, though Bashir grew a slightly less leaky in time, giving up 27 from his remaining six. He secured a single wicket, holding a clever, diving snare, diving to his right, to finish Jacob Bethell's batting stint for 70, off 80 deliveries.

Jacob Bethell, making up for scoring merely three runs in the first innings, was a member of a trio of players with fifties in the Lions team's leading batsmen. McKinney's returns from opening batsman were more consistent than the scores of their number three: he made 66 in their initial knock and went two better in their follow-up, taking 61 deliveries over his fifty, with five fours and two six-hit shots, both against Bashir's bowling. Jacob Bethell made 68 before a poor shot to Stokes at cover, who held a stooping grab at low down.

Cox exhibited like steadiness, and followed his first-innings 53 with a further 57, at slightly more than a scoring rate of one. He played several outstandingly beautiful strokes on the way, featuring a straight drive and a pull shot against consecutive Brydon Carse balls to attain his half century.

After missing the initial day of this game with a illness and provided only the most minor of efforts to the second day, Brydon Carse pitched superbly when finally given the shot, with Ben McKinney and Jordan Cox among his three wickets.

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